Teen Mom Salaries: How Much Do These MTV Stars Make?

If you’ve ever wondered why girls would choose to let their teen mom drama unfold in front of millions of judgmental viewers across the country, here’s the answer: MTV compensates the Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 stars well. And in Amber Portwood’s case, possibly very well.

According to Us Weekly, when Amber appeared in front of the Madison County (Indiana) magistrate on December 28, 2010, after getting arrested for domestic violence, she was prompted to reveal her income. Amber spilled that MTV pays her a whopping $140,000 for six months of filming.

However, an August 2011 TV Guide article put the cast members’ pay rate closer to $3,000-$5,000 an episode, which totals $39,000-$65,000 for a typical 13-episode season. The discrepancy between these numbers and Amber’s alleged salary begs a big question: Where’d Ms. Portwood get that extra cash?

No matter the answer, we hope all of the money has gone straight into a college fund for little Leah.

Sources: Us Weekly, TV Guide (August 15-28, 2011 issue)